On March 11, at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, a 42-year-old woman suffered a serious traffic accident, despite being actively treated, the patient fell into a deep coma, Glasgow 3 points, completely lost light reflexes, and fell into brain death. Suppressing pain, the family agreed to donate organs to help many other unfortunate lives.
On March 13, 2026, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital performed a series of organ transplants from brain-dead donors, including 1 patient with a rare disease called amyloidosis (powder degeneration) who had both heart and liver transplanted at the same time, the liver of the completely healthy amyloidosis patient was used to transplant to another patient with liver cancer on a background of cirrhosis.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duong Duc Hung - Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital - said that from the noble gesture of the organ donor, doctors have obtained the heart, liver, kidneys and some tissues to transplant to patients waiting in critical condition.
In particular, one of the prominent transplants is the case of a 53-year-old male patient suffering from hereditary Amyloidosis - a rare but severely progressing disease. The disease causes abnormal protein deposits in the body, leading to multiple organ damage, of which the most dangerous is the heart.
In this patient, the myocardial infiltration had caused heart failure, accompanied by increasingly severe peripheral nerve damage. Experts believe that for radical treatment, both heart and liver transplantation should be performed simultaneously.
The heart is replaced to overcome heart failure, while the liver - which produces most abnormal proteins - must be removed to prevent the source of the disease.
This is a complex and rare indication in the world and requires coordination at a very high level. The heart-liver transplant was performed simultaneously on March 13. After about 7 hours of continuous surgery, the transplanted heart beat again right on the operating table, while the transplanted liver quickly secreted bile - a sign that the organ is working well.
The patient was intubated after 12 hours and recovered quickly in the following days. The special thing did not stop there. The liver of the amyloidosis patient himself, although carrying a mutation, has a structure and function that is almost normal" - Assoc. Prof. Hung informed.
Accordingly, instead of being removed, this liver was used to be transplanted to a 64-year-old man with liver cancer on a background of cirrhosis due to hepatitis B, with a very limited prognosis of survival if not transplanted. This is the Domino Liver Transplantation technique, the first time performed in Vietnam.
In this transplant, doctors carried out many surgical teams in parallel. The domino liver transplant lasted about 6 hours and the results were also very positive when the transplanted liver worked well immediately after surgery. Both liver and heart-liver recipients had favorable postoperative developments, were awake, and could sit up and eat and drink after 72 hours.
Thus, from one organ donor, many patients have had the opportunity to be saved, instead of the "one donor - one recipient" model as before" - Mr. Hung said.
Mr. Ha Anh Duc - Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Ministry of Health - said that the transplant is not only of professional significance but also contributes to enhancing the position of Vietnamese medicine, when not many countries in the world have implemented similar techniques.
This success is the result of careful preparation, close patient selection and effective cooperation with international partners.
The simultaneous successful implementation of many complex techniques such as heart-liver transplantation, domino liver transplantation, along with an effective organ coordination process, has made the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital one of the leading organ transplant centers in the region.
More importantly, the story behind these transplants is a profound message about life and sharing. From an irreparable loss, organ donation has brought opportunities for revival to many other people. In the context of limited organ donation sources, each organ donation decision not only saves one but can save many lives.
The successful implementation of Domino liver transplantation technology at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital marks the first time this technique has been implemented in Vietnam, opening up an important step in the field of organ transplantation in our country.
The success of the first domino multi-organ transplant in Vietnam is not only a medical achievement, but also a symbol of intelligence, compassion and the aspiration to rise up of the country's medicine on the world map.
